# Với: with / and in Vietnamese (A1)

> Với means "with" when you do something together with someone: Em sống với ba mẹ. I live with my parents.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/voi-with/ · Updated 2026-11-09

**with / and**

Pattern: `[verb] + với + [person] · [verb] + với ai? · [A] + với + [B]`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: voi

*Với* means "with" when you do something together with someone: *Em sống với ba mẹ.* I live with my parents. It goes after the verb, before the person: *đi với bạn* (go with a friend), *nói chuyện với chị* (talk with you). To ask who with, put *ai* after it: *Em đi với ai?*

In everyday speech, *với* also joins two nouns, like "and": *cà phê với bánh mì*, *anh với em* (you and me). It sounds more relaxed than *và*, the usual word in writing. With food, it also says what goes with what: *cơm với cá*, rice with fish.

English uses "with" for tools too, but Vietnamese doesn't. For something you use, or how you travel, the word is *bằng*: *ăn bằng đũa* (eat with chopsticks), *đi bằng xe buýt* (go by bus).

At the end of a request, *với* adds a little urgency, like "please": *Giúp em với!* Help me, please!

## A common mistake

✗ Tôi ăn với đũa.

✓ Tôi ăn bằng đũa.

For a tool, or a way of travelling, "with" or "by" is *bằng*. *Với* is for doing something together with someone, and for things that go together.

## Examples

- Tối nay em đi ăn với ai? — Who are you going out to eat with tonight?
- Dạ, em đi với mấy người bạn. — I'm going with a few friends.
- Saigon: Em sống với ba mẹ. | Hà Nội: Em sống với bố mẹ. — I live with my parents.
- Saigon: Cho tôi một ly cà phê với một ổ bánh mì. | Hà Nội: Cho tôi một cốc cà phê với một cái bánh mì. — A coffee and a bánh mì, please.

## Words in this pattern

- [với](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/voi-with/#lx_voi): with
- [với](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/voi-with/#s_voi_please): please

## Compare

- [And (listing): và](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/va-and/): and
- [By, with, in: bằng (transport, tool, language)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bang-by-means/): by / with / in

Previous in Linking ideas: [In order to: để](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/de-purpose/)
Next in Linking ideas: [(I'll do it) then: … vậy at the end](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/vay-final-resigned/)

---

Add to Vietnamese Buddy: https://app.vietnamesebuddy.com/waitlist?source=grammar%3Au_voi_with
In the app, the grammar points from your own class material are kept with their status, and any word you meet while reading can go into your lexicon with its audio, ready to study.